A/N: Thanks to those who have been reading. And especially to those who have been reviewing. I also apologize for killing off Draco. The truth is that he just wasn't that popular anymore. I've decided to continue the rest of the story with a new main character. I hope you approve.
Here is the latest chapter in the story which will soon be renamed, "Euan Abercrombie and the Half Blood Prince".
The Battle For Hogwarts
Euan Abercrombie was staring at his hand. Specifically at the wand he was holding. The Dark Lord had cast a spell and Draco's wand went flying. It landed almost at Euan's feet. And Euan had dared to pick it up. It felt . . . different.
Other wands always had the feeling of being wands. There was a different feeling to each wand, enough to know that it wasn't your wand. And they acted differently, depending on what they were made of. But this wand seemed to talk to him. Not words, but feelings. The best guess he could make was that it was a dragon's wand.
Once that thought entered his head, another followed it. Perhaps, now, he could figure out what was wrong with his flaming. None of the Dragon Dancers ever considered it a spell. It was always a part of being a dragon. And Euan was feeling that something was now right. It wasn't part of being a dragon. It was being a dragon.
"The flame is the dragon," Euan said to himself. He looked up when he heard the Dark Lord yell. Someone had killed his pet snake. He looked back at the wand. He wasn't thinking. He was feeling. Or trying to feel. What it meant to be a dragon. What it meant to flame. A sense of rightness passed through him as Arthur Weasley's name was called out. Draco was asking him something.
Euan looked up. Draco was turning around. Voldemort had cast the Killing Curse. Draco fell to the ground, unmoving. The Dark Lord (Jack was saying in his head that only his followers called him that) was standing and looking, not at Draco's body, but at the wooden shaft sticking out of his own chest. Then he collapsed as well. Euan hoped the man was dead.
The crowd surged forward and he lost his view. A minute later, there was a loud noise, a not quite explosion. Shortly afterward, the crowd began to back away as the one voice Euan did not want to hear shouted, "I STILL LIVE."
Voldemort came into view.
Euan didn't think. He felt. Anger. Revenge. His arm was raised.
Euan screamed.
He felt the heat. He saw the area around him become brighter. He saw the man he wished dead. The wand pointed at him. The green light heading in his direction. Euan pointed Draco's wand at it. He screamed.
Everyone learned at that moment that there was one thing that could defend against the killing curse.
Voldemort ordered his followers to attack. Others were shouting for the defenders to fall back to the castle.
Euan stepped forward. Spells shot at him. He screamed. Glorious flame erupted from the wand. Nothing could touch him.
Ice. From the side. Dementors. The feelings of despair. He screamed. This time in anguish. The flames washed over the dark creatures. Those that survived, tried to attack again. Euan screamed again. They retreated. A loud noise, a thunderclap, almost above his head. Someone was next to him. He turned to where the man's hand was pointing. Another man was lying on the ground, blood pouring out of his head.
The thunderclap again. Another wizard fell before he could cast a spell. Euan recovered his surprised and turned to face this new attack. He screamed. So did a few of his opponents as they ran away in flames.
There was a moment of quiet. Euan looked up. The man next to him was holding a revolver. He smiled down at the boy, saying, "You can't be everywhere. I decided to cover your back."
"You're a muggle?"
The man nodded. "And before this night is over, I intend to teach respect to a few wizards." He nodded to the right. A handful of wizards, witches and students were making a stand behind some shielding spells. "There," the man pointed and Euan aimed his wand. He screamed as he walked toward the group of attackers.
A boulder, bigger than Euan, flew over their heads. He turned in time to see the small group scatter. The giants were attacking as well.
The next few minutes he was flaming this way and that. The muggle man was firing his weapon at those Euan couldn't reach. Someone else ran up, an old witch. She added her spells to the attack.
"Should we fall back?" the man asked the witch.
"No place to fall back to," the witch said. "Hogwarts is just a stone building, now." She patted Euan's shoulder. "Keep shouting, boy. You're our best hope."
"BOULDER," the man shouted, yanking Euan to one side. A moment later the witch was at his side asking if he was hurt. Euan answered by screaming at an approaching Death Eater.
"I can feel them," Euan said when there was another lull. He idly wondered if all battles were like this. Minutes of madness followed by a minute or two of quiet as everyone looked for who to fight next. Euan repeated himself. "I can feel them."
Euan pointed to the distance with his wand. "THERE."
It wasn't only the three of them. It was everyone, friend or foe, who heard. All turned to look where Euan pointed.
A flame in the air. Another. Two more flames. One of the foes, shouted, "MERLIN'S BEARD" and apparated.
"THE GIANTS." Voldemort was shouting. "THE GIANTS WILL TAKE CARE OF THEM. KEEP FIGHTING."
Madness began again. Dragons might be fighting giants but there were still wizards and dementors attacking the school and its defenders. And the enemy did not hold back. With a sense of desperation they renewed the assault. They grossly outnumbered the defenders. But the tide was turning.
Dragons. Euan was screaming in delight. He had never felt so many dragons. They kept coming closer. The feeling became stronger. Euan was being overcome.
"We will win this day or die," he promised his companions.
"Is the boy . . ." the man began to ask.
"He isn't a boy," the witch said, almost laughing. "He's a dragon."
The fighting was almost continuos. The defenders quickly learned not to band together in large groups. So did the attackers. The battle was a hundred skirmishes going on across the school grounds. From a glimpse back at the castle, there was fire to be seen on the third floor. The battle was probably in the school as well.
Euan didn't care. All he wanted to do was kill the enemy. The enemy that tried to destroy his lounge. His lounge of wizards. Flame was his power. Flame was his joy. All he needed was to get close to his enemy and destroy him.
It was getting harder.
His group of three was now five. With the giants distracted, there was no longer any fear of boulders. And with the two extra wands to cover him, Euan was able to go almost anywhere he wanted.
And the Death Eaters were more than happy to withdraw from him. More than happy to go fight someone else.
His entourage backed away. Flames were coming close. The muggle man commented that they were friendly 'but'. Euan stood his ground. There were two flames. He flamed in greeting. On either side of him landed two dragons. Young dragons. He knew who they were. Brother. Sister.
"We finish this," he said without thinking. Turning toward where Voldemort was directing the battle, behind a score of Death Eaters, Euan began to run. He laughed a flame as he heard the man behind him say, "Bloody hell."
Euan flamed. There were three flames. Spells dissolved before them. Death Eaters fired spell after spell at them before the three young dragons could get close. He knew they hoped one would get through.
A shout from one side. Dark wizards coming to flank the attack. One fell as a muggle revolver fired. Another fell to a spell. Their attack stalled as the four followers guarded his flank.
Death Eaters were falling back. Spells still being shouted. A wall of flame kept advancing toward them. A shout from behind. Euan couldn't look. Someone was shouting a curse. The killing curse. The curse became a scream. Following the scream was the bark of a dragon that could not flame.
Ahead of them, behind the Death Eaters, an adult dragon flamed. A giant attacked with a club. The Dragon flamed again as it grabbed the giant's head with its claws. It threw the head away as the body fell. It turned to join the attack.
Voldemort apparated.
The Death Eaters fled.
Like a wave, panic possessed the attackers. Those who could, apparated. Those who couldn't, tried to run or tried to surrender. As for those nearest the dragons, it didn't matter what they tried.
It was over.
All in a moment.
There was fighting. Then there was silence. Now there were the sounds of the wounded. The cries, the moans, the screams, the begging and pleading.
Euan looked to his right. Brother flamed. He looked to his left. Sister was smiling at him. He couldn't help it. He smiled back. A bump against his leg. Grawpina, her muzzle and neck covered in blood. Incomplete came the first thought. The second thought came just as quickly. Complete enough.
He flamed. Three flames. And one bark. Two larger flames across the field. The family.
Euan was smiling at Sister again. Suddenly, Brother bumped him in the back, pushing him closer. Sister was laughing. Grawpina made a noise as she backed away. She was laughing as well. Give the two lovebirds a moment alone.
Not that they were left alone. The entourage approached. Carefully.
"Euan," the young witch said.
"Euan," she repeated.
"It's a wasted effort, Miss Weasley," the wizard commented dryly.
"But Professor Snape . . . Sir."
"Don't bother, Ginny," the old witch said. "Mister Abercrombie is too involved with his . . . girlfriend."
Ginny snorted. "You know about Pansy, Professor McCudgeon?"
"It's Dean McCudgeon. And Hermione Granger told me all about it. She even described Pansy Parkinson when Draco announced his love for her."
"Too thin," Euan said, letting everyone know that even though he was staring at a dragon with a loopy smile on his face, he was still listening. "She couldn't carry an egg properly."
"The question is," Professor Snape pointed out, "what to do with the boy."
"This," Ginny said.
Euan felt himself pushed from behind and was forced to take another step toward the dragon. His smile grew larger even though, or because, four people were laughing at him.
And still he wasn't left alone. Grawpina was standing there. She was meeping.
Something important.
Euan turned at once. To the mother dragon. She had flamed. Sitting on her haunches, head raised to the sky, she flamed again. She was calling. She was calling Draco.
Grawpina ran toward her. To a figure at Mum's feet. Draco's body. She ran back and looked at him.
The Professor was saying something. The muggle man expressed surprise. They were all trying to talk but all Euan heard was his name being said several times. Someone said to be quiet. He felt someone lean close to his ear. The muggle man. He whispered.
"Draco's wand."
"Yes," Euan answered, "I have . . ."
The obvious hit him. He had Draco's wand. "Right," he said with a laugh as he stepped forward.
It was an odd procession. Grawpina led the way. Euan was close behind. Sister was on his right. Brother was again at his left. Behind them was the most unlikely group of four humans you could imagine.
Mum flamed.
Euan flamed in return. To show that he had Draco's wand.
Mum flamed again.
Euan pulled out his own wand. He raised it in his other hand and screamed. This is who he was. He was the one who carried Draco's wand. He was the one that Sister looked at. Mum snorted a short flame, mostly smoke.
Euan stopped. He raised his own wand as high as he could and screamed as loud as possible. I'm still a growing boy.
Mum flamed. Her flame dwarfed what Euan had. She agreed. And she would watch to see what he grew into. A dragon, larger than Mum, leaned forward from one side of her. His head stopped with his snout only inches from Euan's chest.
"What was that?" It was Ginny's voice. She sounded frightened.
"Not to worry," the muggle man said. "Euan just met the parents for the first time."
The male dragon made a motion with its head as he pulled back. Euan understood. Get on with it. He walked forward to where Draco lay. Euan idly noted that the other boy was smiling. Kneeling, he went to place the wand on Draco's chest.
It was the muggle man who knelt next to him. The man glanced upward, probably thinking he was about to be eaten. He was moving Draco's left hand so that it was draped across his chest. Euan nodded. He placed the wand in Draco's hand. Where it belonged. A feeling of loss came over him as he stepped back. Draco was gone. He raised his wand. He screamed his loss.
Then he was screaming again. All the dragons that were present. Not loss. JOY.
An explosion that was not an explosion. Draco Malfoy's wand shattered into myriad pieces. Draco suddenly sat up and gasped a breath. The muggle man was still kneeling next to him. The man smiled when Draco turned his head.
"Hello, Sunny Jim."
